The Little Zombie Was Scared

Xu Duoduo silently felt her heart. There was no heartbeat. She couldn't help sobbing her heart out. Boo-hoo!

No one could save her.

For the other survivors, the arrival of rescuers meant hope.

But for Xu Duoduo, it meant she was approaching the end. She suddenly accepted that with a strange calm, then curled up on her bed with her knees in her arms, pretending she was a mushroom growing in a dark corner.

Gunfire suddenly erupted downstairs in the residential complex, and plenty of survivors upstairs cheered with joy.

Another stretch of time passed. She had no idea how long.

The sweep was reaching her floor. Sounds of fighting rose from below.

In her daze, she heard a familiar voice.

[Qingyuan Residential Complex, Building A, seventh floor cleared.]

Xu Duoduo shuddered at the word "cleared." She was still afraid. They would reach her floor any moment. Was she about to die?

Her whole being-no, her whole zombie being-was falling apart. She wanted to cry, but zombies had no tears.

Steady footsteps carried through the wall to her ears. Bang! A gunshot! A zombie's howls came from next door.

"Tsk, this zombie was hideous. All that howling was annoying, so I blew its head off. How's it going on your end, Xiaobai? Let's wrap this up and head back. I'm hungry. I want hot pot, the kind with brains cooked in it."

The voice was flippant and clear, and there was something familiar about its rambling.

Xu Duoduo had been hiding her head against her knees like an ostrich, but now she lifted it in confusion.

"I'm almost done here. Half an hour at most. Old Wang, tell the vehicles to come pick up the survivors. Tsk, why is this door so hard to open?"

Those words sent a violent shiver through Xu Duoduo. Familiar or not, she was done for! Boo-hoo! She almost let out a couple of incoherent cries, then remembered how this man had complained about her neighbor's annoying howls. She hurriedly covered her mouth and sat trembling on the bed, waiting for him to finish her off.

Yes.

She didn't have the courage to end herself. She might as well wait for someone else to take her out, sparing herself an uglier death later. After all, she was no longer human.

At that thought, Xu Duoduo gave up all hope. But when someone kicked her door open with a bang, her entire zombie body still shook. A moment later, she was stunned by his strength. How could anyone possibly kick open her front door?!

"Damn, that door was hard to kick in! Huh? Does nobody live here? It's pretty tidy. Looks like a show home."

Still, he didn't stop searching. Xu Duoduo went back to being an ostrich, burying her head and trembling as she awaited her final judgment.

She could hear that he hadn't gone into the storage room or the kitchen. Instead, he headed straight for her room, each footstep practically trampling her nerves.

She was so tense she could explode!

Bang.

The bedroom door swung open...

A moment later, she heard the click of a gun being cocked. The familiar voice spoke again. "Any wounds? Were you bitten by a zombie? Any signs of mutation? Please answer these questions truthfully."

Xu Duoduo kept her head down and played dead. She even wanted to crawl under the covers beside her.

Then she heard an impatient "tsk," and his tone turned stern. "Didn't you hear me telling you to answer? We're the 3A Special Operations Squad, an official search-and-rescue team dispatched by the authorities. Ma'am, if you keep refusing to answer, you could delay your rescue. Do you understand... huh?"

Xu Duoduo had just begun wondering what he was saying "huh" about when he strode over and hauled her up. The little zombie trembled in fright, her eyes shut as she played dead. Then she heard him speak with interest. "Little Class Monitor?"

That familiar rising inflection, that flippant tone, carried a hint of surprise at a reunion after so long.

Xu Duoduo finally opened her eyes to look at the newcomer, the man who was about to pass judgment on her. A handsome face filled her vision, and the two of them stared at each other.

Before he could say anything, another voice burst out of his earpiece. "Holy shit, who? Little Class Monitor? Qin, have you finally lost it? Have you gone crazy from missing her?"

Qin Luo impatiently switched off his earpiece and began studying the little zombie before him. Then he asked hesitantly, "Xu Duoduo? Holy shit. Wait, how have you barely changed after all these years? You still have the same face."

Xu Duoduo was numb. Her sluggish brain finally remembered who he was. This reunion with an old classmate was hard to put into words. He was still just as goofy as ever.

She looked at Qin Luo in his combat uniform. He was still so tall. His features had lost their boyishness and grown more striking, handsome enough to make a whole crowd of girls swoon. Back then, he had been both the school heartthrob and its resident troublemaker.

As class monitor, Xu Duoduo had spent no small amount of effort on this troublesome deskmate.

She really wanted to say a deadpan "Hello." But all that came out when she opened her mouth was incoherent babbling.

So she chose silence.

Like a big dog, Qin Luo studied her with curiosity. After all these years, his little class monitor from middle school was a little different. Once he thought about it, he noticed the subtle changes in Xu Duoduo, such as how ice-cold she felt.

He couldn't help frowning, too.

A moment later, Qin Luo touched Xu Duoduo's neck. He pressed down and found no pulse.

Xu Duoduo almost thought he was going to strangle her. Only afterward did she realize he was checking her pulse.

She felt a little sad, but also a little gratified. Her old deskmate, who had been terrible at his studies, was now on the government payroll. He had even joined a special operations team.

That's amazing.

She figured their old middle school homeroom teacher, Mr. Li, would probably be proud, too.

"Man, weren't you pretty quick-witted? How did you fail to make it through the initial outbreak?"

Qin Luo looked deeply regretful, but why were his expression and tone so punchable???

Xu Duoduo's brows drew together, and anger rose inside her. She glared at him indignantly, looking exactly as she had when she used to chase him down to make him finish his homework.

Qin Luo grinned.

"Oh, right. Almost forgot the important part." As he spoke, he looked around as though searching for something.

Xu Duoduo couldn't help trembling again. She suspected he was looking for a good spot to finish her off, so she shut her eyes and went back to playing dead.

After looking around without finding anything useful, Qin Luo simply picked up a small blanket. Turning back, he found Xu Duoduo trembling with her eyes closed. He sighed and tied her up.

Even with her eyes shut, Xu Duoduo realized she was being bound. She figured he was worried she would struggle and die an ugly death, and wanted to leave her some dignity. She opened her eyes and gave him a grateful look. He was actually pretty nice.

Qin Luo had mixed feelings. He thought Xu Duoduo had become a bit of a weirdo after turning into a zombie. Why did she look grateful to be tied up? He couldn't make sense of it.

Then he lifted her into his arms, quilt and all, and stuffed her into the wardrobe to hide her. "Stay put for now. I'll come back for you later."

After muttering that, he took one last look at Xu Duoduo. Her little face was snow-white, and she was blinking up at him with her big eyes.

The tips of Qin Luo's ears suddenly reddened. He clicked his tongue. "You're a zombie. What are you acting cute for?"

Xu Duoduo: ???